My dog eats cat food. How can I stop her without moving bowls?

Feed your cat up on a counter out of your dog's reach. You can also crate the dog while the cat eats. Cat food being eaten by a dog can predispose the dog to becoming overweight and may also cause GI upset.

You may try creating steps for the kittens to climb/jump in order to get to their food. If you cannot elevate the food dish to keep it out of reach of the dog. Keep the food in a room with a closed door that you will need to open to let the kittens in to eat. It is very difficult to train a dog not to eat other pet's food and the only way to do this is to provide constant supervision. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

This can be a challenging situation, especially if you have one cat that's more of an "eater" than the others. I would try to offer canned food for one meal, and dry for another. For the canned meal, you can put it out into separate bowls, ensure that everyone has their own bowl, and monitor the situation until they finish. Most cats will go ahead and finish a portion of canned food, unlike dry, which they will often "snack" on. You can also reinforce the "ownership" of each cat's bowl by calling them, and then feeding that cat only in that bowl (and consequentially, in that space) at all times. That way, you're teaching them that they will get fed at "their" bowl at all times. Interlopers onto other bowls should be discouraged and redirected back to their own bowl. Finally, if you're up for spending some money, there is an [automatic feeder](https://www.surepetcare.com/en-us/pet-feeder/microchip-pet-feeder) that opens only for a signal from your pet's microchip. This can become really important if one pet is on a special diet for health reasons - it only opens when the cat that has the specific microchip approaches. This is the best way to ensure that the right cat gets the right food.

It may be impossible to train her to eat from the bowl. It’s not uncommon that pets will remove food from the bowl to eat on the ground or only eat if the food is placed on the ground. Unfortunately we don’t know why they exhibit these behaviors. I recommend to experiment with feeding her on a plate or a very wide bowl that does not come in contact with the whiskers on her muzzle or the top of her head. It could be a tactile sensation she does not like. Also observe her closely to make sure she’s not showing evidence of illness or not wanting to eat due to a medical condition. There are many reasons a cat will stop eating including sickness or dental problems. If you are not sure if Luna is healthy, have her examined by the veterinarian. Best of luck.

I would recommend separating Cookie from your other animals while they are eating. I would not leave the food out all day, instead I would meal feed them. With regards to the cat food I would recommend keeping the food up high somewhere your cat has to jump to get too. That way Cookie cannot have access to the cat food at all. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Unfortunately, dogs love eating poop! They find it tasty, and while that is completely gross, it's not uncommon. My own dogs try to treat the cat's litter box like a buffet. Eating the poop can at most cause them some GI upset in the form of vomiting. You can try elevating the litter box so your cat can jump up to it, but Farrah can't reach it. You can layer baby gates on top of each other, one with the bottom touching the ground and the other right on top of it. That should prevent her from wriggling under the gate and jumping over it. You might also consider keeping the door shut to the room where the litter box is, and installing a cat door in the door. That way, your cat can get in the room, but your dog cannot. I hope one of these suggestions help.

Bobby and Coco are adorable! I do recommend only feeding Bobby kitten food. This is a common problem where kittens will want the adult food. I would recommend once Coco is done with her food and she walks away to just pick it up. You are already feeding in different rooms so just by picking up the food should help. Otherwise, if Bobby cannot jump hight then I would put Coco's food higher up. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.